The problem of overweight and obesity has now become a nation-wide problem for the USA and other countries. More than 60% of Americans are overweight (see websites of American Obesity Association, Centers for Disease Control, etc.) and most are car occupants. There are a number of weight control systems and methods to lose weight. Many weight control plans are available to individual users, from which the user can select a particular program designed to control the weight of that individual. Associated with such programs are nutrition programs and programs involving exercise and like physical activities.
Many different kinds of electrical scales have also been suggested for diet and weight control plans. These plans require the dieter to have a scale on the floor at home or another weighing facility and have a regular weighing procedure. Thus the dieter has to find time to step up on the scale. As a result, the diet and weight control plans do not help a dieter who is busy and highly active to choose a diet and lose weight and keep healthy. These activities often depend on a mood, physical state, and free time of the individual. As a result, an individual very often does not obey the requirements of the lose weight program and exercise plans on time or does not accomplish them.
There is a possibility to employ an on-board vehicle weight control system that weighs and memorizes weight of a vehicle occupant when one sits down on a driver or a passenger seat. By collecting an on-board vehicle occupant's weight each driver and/or passenger in a car could get help to prevent possible overweight and obesity because a lot of measurements made in a vehicle relatively to the few measurements during follow up doctor visits make possible to use statistical methods of predicting overweight and obesity. It is the principal object of this system to extend the utility of a motor vehicle, especially a passenger vehicle such as an automobile, a van, school bus, corporate vehicle or bus, limousine, tourist bus, truck, and even a boat, so that the time spent in the vehicle can be utilized more efficiently and the interaction of the vehicle with the driver and/or passenger can be improved.
There is also a problem to accurately weigh a vehicle occupant in other on-board systems. For example, accurately weighing vehicle occupants in on-board vehicle supplemental restraint system provides a possibility of an accurate control of the airbag inflation force depending on a real value of the occupant's weight and eliminates extra force applied to the occupant's body at the time of collision.
To weigh a vehicle occupant, it is necessary to weigh a body part in a car seat and a foot part of his/her weight. It takes two weighing devices, and makes weighing of the vehicle occupant complicated. A simplified method of weighing is to use only one weighing device to weigh a body part in a car seat. Contribution of the weight of the foot part of the body to a total weight of a vehicle occupant may be evaluated by several ways: to prompt a vehicle occupant to lift up and keep his/her legs out from the floor and away from the pedals during the weight measurement (this solution is not convenient because lifting up the feet may not be habitual for some people), correlate total weight of the occupant's body by position of the feet on the floor (this solution is not accurate), etc.
All described above on-board vehicle systems and methods to accurately weigh a vehicle occupant are not convenient or are complicated.